BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:ILLC Website X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/Amsterdam BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Europe/Amsterdam X-LIC-LOCATION:Europe/Amsterdam BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:+0100 TZOFFSETTO:+0200 TZNAME:CEST DTSTART:19700329T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=-1SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0200 TZOFFSETTO:+0100 TZNAME:CET DTSTART:19701025T030000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=10;BYDAY=-1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:/NewsandEvents/Archives/2015/newsitem/6779/24- March-2015-Amsterdam-Brain-Cognition-ABC-Lecture-W -Tecumseh-Fitch DTSTAMP:20150305T000000 SUMMARY:Amsterdam Brain & Cognition (ABC) Lecture, W. Tecumseh Fitch ATTENDEE;ROLE=Speaker:W. Tecumseh Fitch DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20150324T160000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/Amsterdam:20150324T000000 LOCATION:Room 1.03, REC M, Plantage Muidergracht 1 2, Amsterdam DESCRIPTION:A fundamental observation about human cognition is that we make "infinite use of finite means," using a limited number of rules and princi ples to generate unbounded sets of behaviors and t o recognize unbounded sets of patterns. In many ca ses this involves a capacity to both generate and perceive tree structures in stimuli of various typ es (language, music, social cognition, etc.). Huma n language in particular requires computational re sources that go beyond simple string generation to allow the inference and generation of complex, fl exible tree structures. This entails supra-regular (above finite state) computational mechanisms tha t augment standard finite state mechanisms with a flexible, multi-purpose memory store (a "stack" or equivalent). I review comparative research gat hered over the past decade suggesting that such co mputational resources are poorly developed or abse nt in most nonhuman animal species. This body of e mpirical research implies that the human proclivit y for producing and perceiving tree-structured sti muli -- our "dendrophilia" -- represented a key co gnitive innovation during recent human evolution. Both brain imaging and comparative research sugges t that Broca's area (Brodmann Areas 44 and 45) is an important computational hub for human tree proc essing, suggesting that this core prefrontal regio n was harnessed, and its computational role expand ed, during the evolution of dendrophilia and human cognitive abilities in general. For more informa tion, see http://abc.uva.nl/events/item/abc-lectur e-tecumseh-fitch.html X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:\n
\n A fundamental observation about human cognition is that we make "infinite use of finite means,& quot; using a limited number of rules and principl es to generate unbounded sets of behaviors and to recognize unbounded sets of patterns. In many cas es this involves a capacity to both generate and p erceive tree structures in stimuli of various type s (language, music, social cognition, etc.). Huma n language in particular requires computational re sources that go beyond simple string generation to allow the inference and generation of complex, fl exible tree structures. This entails supra-regula r (above finite state) computational mechanisms th at augment standard finite state mechanisms with a flexible, multi-purpose memory store (a "sta ck" or equivalent).\n
\n\n I review comparative research gathered over the past decade suggesting that such computationa l resources are poorly developed or absent in most nonhuman animal species. This body of empirical research implies that the human proclivity for pro ducing and perceiving tree-structured stimuli -- o ur "dendrophilia" -- represented a key c ognitive innovation during recent human evolution. Both brain imaging and comparative research sugg est that Broca's area (Brodmann Areas 44 and 45) i s an important computational hub for human tree pr ocessing, suggesting that this core prefrontal reg ion was harnessed, and its computational role expa nded, during the evolution of dendrophilia and hum an cognitive abilities in general.
\n \nFor more information, see http://abc.uva.nl/events/item /abc-lecture-tecumseh-fitch.html
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